Looking to Get into Investing - Preferably ETFs, Managed Funds and Maybe a Few Individual Shares. Any Tips?

Lsqueeze on 17/07/2019 - 23:01

I've already purchased a couple of ETFs - One is US biotechnology / pharmaceuticals and the other in various (mostly asian) lithium battery producing companies.

To be honest I didn't do all that much research but just followed my gut and I feel like they're safe investments over say 5 years.

I would like to invest more of my savings but I really don't know where to start. I've been considering opening a colonial first state managed fund account?

What have you invested in or would like to invest in?

any tips and suggestions very welcome!

Cheers OZB

Financial

Comments

  • fossilfuel on 17/07/2019 - 23:35
    +2

    Barefoot suggested that new investors should look at ARGO and AFIC. They're LIC (Listed investment companies), which is similar to a managed fund. Their portfolio is made up of blue chip Australian companies and the investment fees are dirt cheap. They pay regular dividends and you have the option to reinvest them/top up your holdings without having to go through a share broker.

    Don't open a managed fund account as the fees are usually ridiculous. Most of the time, you'll be making negligible returns.

    It does not hurt to put a small amount of money towards newly listed companies. In the long term, they will either grow and you'll make a ton of money. Worst case scenario, they'll go bankrupt but your losses will be minimal.

    • squeeze on 18/07/2019 - 00:30

      appreciate the advice, I've been meaning to read barefoot. I've been seriously thinking about managed funds so I'll have a look into LICs never even heard of them tbh.

      There's a newly listed company Althea I've been looking into which is licensed to grow medicinal cannabis in Victoria and expanding into UK and asian markets so I'm thinking about putting a small investment into them.

      • EightImmortals on 18/07/2019 - 06:33
        +2

        If you like the idea of managed funds check out Wilson asset management, have been around a long time and is very popular. You can buy/sell their shares on market.

        Never invest anything you can;t afford to lose and avoid leveraged products at all costs. :)

        • brad1-8tsi on 18/07/2019 - 10:41
          +1

          I've done really nicely out of Wilson over the past 10 years. Nothing amazing just steady FF dividends around 6% and 1%-2% growth year-on-year.

          The new(ish) Global fund is underpriced to the NTA of $2.30. Even the boss Geoff Wilson was buying more at <$1.95.

          The Wilson microcap fund caught my eye last week. I need to do more reading on it.

          Also Gowings LIC is massively underpriced @$2.50 to their reported NTA of $4.23 - so much that I think there is something wrong somewhere and the latest annual report will have some massive writedowns in property valuations.

          If you invest in an LIC then take note of your dividend statement as there is often an additional statement about LIC capital gains. this amount is eligible for a 50% tax deduction on top of the dividend.

          I've had CFS Managed funds (cashed them in in 2017 after 20 years investing $100/m to pay off my ex-wife). The management fees can be a bit high as they are an active fund. If you go with a Vanguard Index fund the end result will be quite similar as the management fee is much lower.

  • fishball on 18/07/2019 - 01:00
    +2

    Just buy ETFs or LICs on the ASX through any standard broker like selfwealth/commsec/nabtrade or anything. It is much easier than fiddling with managed fund accounts.

    You have to think why you are investing to decide what to invest into. Are you looking for dividends? Capital gains down the line? International exposure? ASX index exposure? etc

    My portfolio is around 70% VGS which is international MSCI ex Aus since I have fairly little faith in the ASX200 due to it being heavily weighed with financials. Having said that I also hold like 15% in ARG/MLT (LICs) just to get some dividend income. From my point of view ARG/MLT have underperformed something like VAS which returned far better.

    http://www.etfwatch.com.au/2019-financial-year-etf-lic-perfo…

    Return (incl. div):
    VAS - 10.8%
    VGS - 11.22%
    MLT - 6.88%
    ARG - 5.9%

    In the end, you have to decide what is best to invest depending on your goals. Important things to check are management fees and returns (which usually already include management fees).

    HISTORICAL RETURNS ARE NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RETURNS. THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE YADA YADA YADA.

  • iforgotmysocks on 18/07/2019 - 07:37
    -1

    Have you heard of Bitcoin?

    • [Deactivated] on 18/07/2019 - 09:46
      +2

      Don't buy Bitcoin. Wait a bit longer for OzBcoin to launch

      • Baysew on 18/07/2019 - 09:53

        Sssh…..remember first rule.

  • arctan on 19/07/2019 - 14:49

    Quick question on setting up trust to invest on these etf or lic funds. Is anyone able to share some insights on how to do it or can share some articles on what to do for a total newbie like me? Still quite confused on how to set up a trust and then how to use that to trade but I know it's beneficial.

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